At a high-profile summit in London, Trump administration officials are expected to clash with European politicians and experts over differing visions of what energy security means. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused gas prices to spike, Europe has rushed to roll out renewable electricity and start reducing its dependence on other countries for its energy needs. It also swapped part of its Russian gas supplies with growing shipments of liquified natural gas (LNG) from across the Atlantic Ocean. Now, President Donald Trump, backed by American fossil fuel producers, is trying to pressure Europe to buy even more of it. The two sides are expected to clash at the Summit on the Future of Energy Security in London starting on Thursday and hosted by the UK government and the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“It’s shameful”: Amazon Indigenous people call for oil drilling ban at COP30. The two-day gathering will be attended by the President of the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen, the US Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs Tommy Joyce, and officials and ministers from around 60 governments. Energy access, climate security, the future of oil and gas markets, and clean energy supply chains are among the key topics of discussion, according to the meeting’s official agenda. Renewables are ‘surest way’ to security. Ahead of the summit, Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, discussed climate action with 18 heads of state, including the president of COP30 host Brazil, in an online meeting on Wednesday. China’s leader Xi Jinping told the meeting that “no matter how the international situation changes, China’s active actions to respond to climate change will not slow down”, according to state media. System change is our only way out of the climate and biodiversity crises.
After the meeting, Guterres told reporters that “the pathway out of climate hell is paved by renewables – they offer the surest route to energy sovereignty and security, and ending dependence on volatile and expensive fossil fuel imports.” That is what the leaders of the European Union, UK, and IEA also think. Von Der Leyen said in January that clean energy “strengthens our energy independence”. Whereas coal, oil, and gas deposits are concentrated in certain countries, renewable resources like sunshine and wind are spread more evenly across the globe. Better to rely on solar panel imports. Referring to Trump’s pro-oil and gas production slogan, Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, a French center-left member of the European Parliament, told reporters on Wednesday that “for us Europeans, we know that the drill, baby, drill approach cannot work in Europe because of geology”.
